Experience of international delivery from chinese websites?

Sssank

New member
Jan 12, 2018
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Dear all amazing people of Dominican Republic.

I've enjoyed every second of my vacation there, spent with a huge family in a barrio of Santo Domingo.

I loved the mood, the flow, the style, the smile, the positivity, the living of every single face I've been introduced too.

Now, there was this guy, a kid let's say, whom every night was coming to the house of this family which was hosting me, they were providing him with food and a friendly environment, and he was happy even with his more than difficult life.

He was highly passionated with music and every single night he was asking me to borrow him with my mobile for random YouTube bingewatching.

I'd like to provide him with a mobile, I tried to have a look at the mobile stores when I was there but I noticed that everything was SO overpriced compared with European shops. Therefore I was thinking about using these popular Chinese shops I constantly use here in Europe, like Gearbest, or Bangood, they provide international shipping and everything worked very smoothly for Europe (obviously it takes 3wks which is really bad compared with the 1day delivery of Amazon, but still...). The same international shipping is available for Dominican republic.

Do anyone of you have any experience with these websites so far? Will the package ever arrive at the door of this guy? I'm just asking cause we can agree with the fact that a lot of things there are really bad managed and even if it is the same shipping, it could work taking the European route but fail miserably taking the Caribbean one.

I'm not particularly afraid of losing the money since with PayPal I'm 100% sure I would be reimbursed if the package would be lost, and I would give a try if it worth.
 

Sssank

New member
Jan 12, 2018
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Uhm, interesting, thank you for your contribution.

This was exactly what I was afraid of.

Using that service basically will need me to pay like 2 custom, I think.

What about choosing a trusted delivery such us DHL instead of the standard international shipping procedure? In Europe they are not using the country's post this way, just the DHL dedicated couriers.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
11,747
1,343
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I hate to be Scrooge, he is only going to sell it the next day to buy beer or a meal.
Where is he getting data from, are you buying him a data plan, as well?
The thought was there, but wait til you visit next time.
 

Sssank

New member
Jan 12, 2018
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This family had WiFi, when electricity was working :)

I'm trying to keep positive about the people, it's kind of my rule about the world, if I'll be wrong, well, glad he enjoyed his brugal or picapollo :)
 

lifeisgreat

Enjoying Life
May 7, 2016
3,269
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Go on Facebook buy local used..pretty cheap...most people use wifi only for whattaapp call and free incoming calls
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,450
3,590
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Do what Tambo said. You can open an account for one of them with EPS . They used to charge yearly, but not now. Not sure about new accounts, but I guess they would be free. I have used EPS for phones shipped from Hong Kong with no problems in the past. And the phones worked well here.

Just keep it under $$200 US so there is not duty.
 

Sssank

New member
Jan 12, 2018
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Thanks sky, this is very interesting!
Did you pay the us custom? And what about the Dr custom?
I'm interested in a shipping from HK too.
 

Sssank

New member
Jan 12, 2018
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Edit: ok for the 200usd. I will give a try and let you know.
Thank you everybody for the contributions :)
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
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Thanks sky, this is very interesting!
Did you pay the us custom? And what about the Dr custom?
I'm interested in a shipping from HK too.



I am talking about DR customs. There is no custom fee to ship it to EPS in Miami, then they fly it here. He can pick it up at the EPS office. And EPS will send you and Email advising arrival, both in Miami and here.

The only fee will be about 260rd per pound.
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
0
This family had WiFi, when electricity was working :)

I'm trying to keep positive about the people, it's kind of my rule about the world, if I'll be wrong, well, glad he enjoyed his brugal or picapollo :)

listen to Tambo. if you hand it to him today, and check with him in a week, one of three things will have happened, in this order..

1...it fell in the toilet.

2...they stole it.

3..it broke. the spanish phrase will be '' no sirve''.
 

Sssank

New member
Jan 12, 2018
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0
I consider, appreciate and respect your point.
I'm not joking, I really do the previous.

But I still prefer having faith in humanity. And if I would fail, I won't be poor for these 10k pesos. I'm not rich, and I work hard for them, but if I would fail in having faith, I'll just pay the price for the lesson learned.

Not all the people are the same, and in the same way with which some people understood that I was not a standard gringo jumping to Dr for sick prostitution and brain-dead all-inclusive resorts, I would prefer giving to each individual his chance to be trusted.
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
Dear all amazing people of Dominican Republic.

I've enjoyed every second of my vacation there, spent with a huge family in a barrio of Santo Domingo.

I loved the mood, the flow, the style, the smile, the positivity, the living of every single face I've been introduced too.

Now, there was this guy, a kid let's say, whom every night was coming to the house of this family which was hosting me, they were providing him with food and a friendly environment, and he was happy even with his more than difficult life.

He was highly passionated with music and every single night he was asking me to borrow him with my mobile for random YouTube bingewatching.

I'd like to provide him with a mobile, I tried to have a look at the mobile stores when I was there but I noticed that everything was SO overpriced compared with European shops. Therefore I was thinking about using these popular Chinese shops I constantly use here in Europe, like Gearbest, or Bangood, they provide international shipping and everything worked very smoothly for Europe (obviously it takes 3wks which is really bad compared with the 1day delivery of Amazon, but still...). The same international shipping is available for Dominican republic.

Do anyone of you have any experience with these websites so far? Will the package ever arrive at the door of this guy? I'm just asking cause we can agree with the fact that a lot of things there are really bad managed and even if it is the same shipping, it could work taking the European route but fail miserably taking the Caribbean one.

I'm not particularly afraid of losing the money since with PayPal I'm 100% sure I would be reimbursed if the package would be lost, and I would give a try if it worth.

You would need to ship it to yourself in the states and then send via UPS or Fedex to your family. It will cost you about $60 to ship. You should not have to pay any tax coming to you in the US or going to the DR because the item will be under $200.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
113
Dear all amazing people of Dominican Republic.

I've enjoyed every second of my vacation there, spent with a huge family in a barrio of Santo Domingo.

I loved the mood, the flow, the style, the smile, the positivity, the living of every single face I've been introduced too.

Now, there was this guy, a kid let's say, whom every night was coming to the house of this family which was hosting me, they were providing him with food and a friendly environment, and he was happy even with his more than difficult life.

He was highly passionated with music and every single night he was asking me to borrow him with my mobile for random YouTube bingewatching.

I'd like to provide him with a mobile, I tried to have a look at the mobile stores when I was there but I noticed that everything was SO overpriced compared with European shops. Therefore I was thinking about using these popular Chinese shops I constantly use here in Europe, like Gearbest, or Bangood, they provide international shipping and everything worked very smoothly for Europe (obviously it takes 3wks which is really bad compared with the 1day delivery of Amazon, but still...). The same international shipping is available for Dominican republic.

Do anyone of you have any experience with these websites so far? Will the package ever arrive at the door of this guy? I'm just asking cause we can agree with the fact that a lot of things there are really bad managed and even if it is the same shipping, it could work taking the European route but fail miserably taking the Caribbean one.

I'm not particularly afraid of losing the money since with PayPal I'm 100% sure I would be reimbursed if the package would be lost, and I would give a try if it worth.
I buy from GearBest & Banggood, but have items delivered to my EPS address.

You could set the guy up with that, and give him the $$$ to pay for the shipping upon arrival.

Problem is it sometimes takes 4-6 weeks for an item to be delivered. Thiose sites do not stock items, they are a drop-shopper.
 

Buffness

Self-imposed banned🫢
Oct 9, 2014
369
200
43
. And if I would fail, I won't be poor for these 10k pesos. .



For 5K pesos , you can get a good used smartphone here in DR if you know where to look . If you are prepared to loose 10K pesos as "lesson" learned ...why not send the 5K pesos and ask his ( or the ) family to find a phone for him here ..and ..then see what happens . 

This will save you the trouble and costs with the shipping from country to country ...( plus Aduana can be a big pain when it comes to mobile phones ) ...and you would learn the lesson for less if there is one to be learnt . If you get a positive outcome -please share . 

We had a very similar experience in 2010 ...stayed with a family...the kid loved watching cartoon network on my ipad ...sent $150 usd to the family to buy him a small tablet (I know !) .........
 

josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
1,538
512
113
For 5K pesos , you can get a good used smartphone here in DR if you know where to look .

This is very true. I've purchased 5+ smart phones from second hand retailers for far less than 5k DOP (and have zero complaints of any of them), and to be honest I'm not quite sure what would those features be, that the boy might miss from a more expensive phone watching videos (apart from maybe larger screen)...
 

chico bill

Dogs Better than People
May 6, 2016
12,543
6,309
113
Dear all amazing people of Dominican Republic.

I've enjoyed every second of my vacation there, spent with a huge family in a barrio of Santo Domingo.

I loved the mood, the flow, the style, the smile, the positivity, the living of every single face I've been introduced too.

Now, there was this guy, a kid let's say, whom every night was coming to the house of this family which was hosting me, they were providing him with food and a friendly environment, and he was happy even with his more than difficult life.

He was highly passionated with music and every single night he was asking me to borrow him with my mobile for random YouTube bingewatching.

I'd like to provide him with a mobile, I tried to have a look at the mobile stores when I was there but I noticed that everything was SO overpriced compared with European shops. Therefore I was thinking about using these popular Chinese shops I constantly use here in Europe, like Gearbest, or Bangood, they provide international shipping and everything worked very smoothly for Europe (obviously it takes 3wks which is really bad compared with the 1day delivery of Amazon, but still...). The same international shipping is available for Dominican republic.

Do anyone of you have any experience with these websites so far? Will the package ever arrive at the door of this guy? I'm just asking cause we can agree with the fact that a lot of things there are really bad managed and even if it is the same shipping, it could work taking the European route but fail miserably taking the Caribbean one.

I'm not particularly afraid of losing the money since with PayPal I'm 100% sure I would be reimbursed if the package would be lost, and I would give a try if it worth.

Go on Corotos and get him a cheap one (less than $50) with no bells and whistles - here's an example: https://www.corotos.com.do/santo_domingo_oeste/celulares/Alcatel_ideal_4g_9045528.htm

You can feel good about yourself (we've all done things to help others) and if you do come back some day just expect he won't have it for some reason or another, and he will request a replacement - only newer with a bigger screen.